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Bolton High School
February 11, 2008
Date posted: February 11, 2008
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Blood Drive "
Status: Broadcast
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Good. Great stand up.
INTERVIEWS: Nice sound bite from the coordinator. Shot was a little dark.
ORIGINALITY: Great story idea
WRITING: Good but opening could have been stronger. Could have tightened up the opening with the reason blood is needed. Make sure the script matches the video. You say the scene is serene but it wasn't a peaceful scene almost looked like a makeshift treatment center for a tragedy until you explain it is a blood drive. The rest of the story was very focused and effective. Nice use of statistics.
VIDEO: Good. The second shot at the beginning seemed to move around without purpose.
AUDIO: Good. Consistant levels.
EDITING: Nice job. Work on using an establishing shot of the interviewee. Show us the person when you are introducing them.
OVERALL: Very good!
**************2006-2007 Evaluations*****************
Date posted: April 20, 2007
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Indoor Motocross "
Status: Broadcast
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Nice job wearing a suit and dressing professional. Also nice job doing the stand up by the bike and outdoors.
INTERVIEWS: The farmer and the rider were good people to interview. The farmer interview was very good. Really added to the story. The student sound bite didn't add. Look for a strong emotional bite to add to the story.
ORIGINALITY: Great story choice. Nice job going after something controversial.
WRITING: Watch editorial. You said this was safe and good for society. If you want to put in this information in get it from your sound bite. This is not a fact so you can't state it as such. You could have said safer but not safe. You also say that these new indoor motor tracks are beneficial to everyone? Again that is editorial. Make sure to attribute facts or let you sound bites state opinions.
VIDEO: Great job with the action shots. All of the motorcycle shots were from the same location. Could have improved the story a lot to get another angel to see something different.
AUDIO: Needed natural sound! Should have had the sound of the motorcycles the whole time that we see them. Just make sure the level is low. There was an overlap with voiceover and the second sound bite. The audio level was too low on the stand up.
EDITING: Nicely edited. Great job showing what you are talking about. Great opening shot.
OVERALL: Nice job but make sure to work on the writing next time and stay away from editorial.
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Date posted: April 20, 2007
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Locks of Love"
Status: Broadcast
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Work on enunciation.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices of people to interview but be careful of the bites you choose. The girl laughs after saying her grandmother died. It would have been better to get her to do it again. Why questions are great for sound bites. The teacher explained what program was but it may have been better to get from her why they are doing it and why it is important. The "what" could be covered in voiceover.
ORIGINALITY: Good story selection.
WRITING: Nice job telling the story.
VIDEO: Always use a tripod and keep still. Shaky shots. No reason for the camera move. If you are going to pan make sure there is a specific reason to do it. Especially noticeable with the wrapper. Should have showed someone getting their hair cut. Some close ups. Make sure you use your best video.
AUDIO: There was a lot of background noise that was distracting. Make sure that your interviewees are on mic.
EDITING: There was a shot of a girl getting her hair cut when you were introducing the 2nd sound bite but then you went to the sound bite and it was a different girl. Should have been an establishing shot of interviewee.
OVERALL: Good story choice and well told. Work on the kinds of questions to use in interviews to get the best sound bites. Also work on the video and editing.
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Date posted: April 20, 2007
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Healthy Eating for Athletes"
Status: Re-Submit
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Needed energy. Delivery was a bit monotone.
INTERVIEWS: Good idea to get information from the school nurse, but the sound bites did not add to the story. Both lifts repeated what the voiceover said just before it. Also, there was no energy or emotion in the sound bites. A bite from an athlete or coach would have been good.
ORIGINALITY: Nutrition is a good base for a story but there was not a hook in this. There needed to be more of a focus.
WRITING: It was too repetitive and not in-depth enough. Needed more story development. As a news story this needed to have a hook. Are sports drinks now a part of the game? Dig deeper to find a story idea. Once you have your hook, then write to it by answering who, what, where, when, why and how.
VIDEO: The video levels were a bit off. Too bright. There was not enough b-roll. There were no shots of athletes eating or drinking. If that was what the story was about, then it needs to be shown.
AUDIO: Good job. Nice use of natural sound from game.
EDITING: Not enough writing or video to be able to properly edit.
OVERALL: There wasn't really a news story here. Find the hook and write to it. Then illustrate with the video and editing.
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Date posted: April 20, 2007
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "In School Recruiter"
Status: Broadcast
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Good job.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices and sound bites.
ORIGINALITY: Interesting idea.
WRITING: Good job sticking to one idea and developing it. Be careful not to turn the story into a recruiting video. The line, "Can help you pick a career you'll really enjoy," sounded like a pitch.
VIDEO: A lot of great shots. Good video of planes and different parts of the base. There were a few places where the lighting wasn't great.
AUDIO: Good levels. Great use of natural sound on the life vest.
EDITING: Very good job matching the video to the writing.
OVERALL: Good work.
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Date posted: April 20, 2007
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Civil Air Patrol "
Status: Re-submit
Length: 55
DELIVERY: Clear and easy to understand.
INTERVIEWS: Try to add emotion to your story with sound bites. Asking why will help you get good lifts. Why are these kids participating? Why do they enjoy it?
ORIGINALITY: Good story idea.
WRITING: Well written. Good job explaining the program.
VIDEO: Nice job getting permission to use to footage from the air patrol. It really helps illustrated the story. Nice job of getting other shots to add to the story such as studying and awards. Find a more interesting background for your interviews. Don't shoot against a bare wall. They were also shot too close and were too dark.
AUDIO: Good idea to use natural sound at the beginning and end with the pledge and salute, but it will not fit in time wise.
EDITING: Nice job matching up the video to the writing.
OVERALL: Good job, but the story ran too long. You are at 55 seconds and the stories need to be 50. It will not fit into our broadcast schedule at this length.
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2005-2006 Evaluations
Date posted: January 23, 2006
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "BCL Hockey"
Status: Re-submit
Length: 50
DELIVERY: Nice job dressing up. Don't look away from the camera during your stand-up. Try to project your voice. We couldn't hear your v/o over the natural sound.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices. Nice sound bites. Coach was a great interview.
ORIGINALITY: Good.
WRITING: Nice job telling us whey they formed this league and who was a part of it.
VIDEO: Good shots. Shot of the crowd would have really added to the story. The stand-up was washed out. Watch the lighting.
AUDIO: Always use a microphone! Your voiceover should be done in the studio. The natural sound was way too loud. It was a good thought to use natural sound, but it's too loud and over powers the v/o. Bring the natural sound down.
EDITING: It got too sloppy at the end. The audio from the voiceover was on top of the audio from your interview. Work on crisp cuts.
OVERALL: Bring down the natural sound and work on crisp edits. It is a good story with good writing. Please re-submit so we can get this on the air.
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Date posted: December 14, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Pay to Play"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :55
DELIVERY: Good. Great stand up. Nice flow.
INTERVIEWS: Great interviews. They added excellent information to the story. Perfect choices for interview subjects. Great job getting the top authorities on the subject in your school. Good job getting two differing views.
ORIGINALITY: Excellent. This story is timely, and truly newsworthy. Story talks about an issue that is important to not only your school, but to schools across the country.
WRITING: Very well written.
VIDEO: Good shots, but it would have been great to shots of a variety of sports to use as B-roll.
AUDIO: Good levels. Nice ambient sounds on the soccer field. It was at a good level, not too loud.
EDITING: Good job.
OVERALL: Great job overall. Very interesting story. Good facts. Excellent journalism. The interviews were a very strong part of the piece and they were essential in telling the story. We really liked this story, but it is :55 seconds in length. It has to be :50 seconds from the start to end of the voiceover. We don't have the capabilities of editing a second off your piece so we will have to defer the story back to you. We need this to be exactly :50 seconds from beginning of the voice-over to the end of the stand-up. If we go a second over schedule the advertisers don't like it! You will need to cut :5 seconds from this piece. There were a few place that we noticed pauses that could be edited out, :2 seconds before the 2nd interview, :1-:2 seconds before the 1st interview. You could cut the camera operator credit to save some time. Also, you need to have :5 seconds of video and natural pad at the end of the story so that we can add the Fox 61 Student News wrapper need for broadcast.
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Date posted: December 14, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "After School Jobs"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :49
DELIVERY: Good pace. In the stand up you say the "need" for after school jobs is growing. Is that a fact or opinion? Maybe the number of high school students with after school jobs has increased? Be careful to be objective in your wrap up.
INTERVIEWS: Good job getting the principals interview. Nice job getting interviews that show both sides of the arguments.
ORIGINALITY: Good.
WRITING: Great job telling the story. Nice writing. Good job writing into your interviews and getting a balanced news story. You could improve the writing into your second interview by using that sentence as a bridge to another opinion. For example, "but Principal Smith sees things differently.
VIDEO: Good shots, but more B-roll would have helped this story. More students walking, washing dishes, etc.
AUDIO: Good. Levels are consistent throughout.
EDITING: Great. Flowed nicely.
OVERALL: Good job. Remember that when you have an interview you can roll some footage over them, once you establish who is being interviewed and the viewer sees them for a few seconds. The interviews were a great part of this story and you wouldn't want to cut them short, but since the principals was on screen for quite a while you could show some other footage.
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Date posted: November 22, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Motocross vs. D.E.P."
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Great job. Nice pace. Easy to understand.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices. You showed both sides to the story. Nice job writing into the interviews.
ORIGINALITY: Interesting with statewide relevance.
WRITING: Excellent. You wrote an impartial story and got interviews that voices different opinions. Good job getting facts in.
VIDEO: Great video. Nice shots of moving bike. The footage of the interviews ran a little long. If you roll some b-roll over part of the interview that may help. For example a no trespassing sign when that is being discussed. The second interview was a bit dark and the shadow on his face was distracting. If you have a light for your camera that would be helpful for your interviews.
AUDIO: Good. Levels are consistent throughout piece. Great sound of bikes.
EDITING: Great editing. Seamless in transition. Good B-roll. Nice job matching writing to the footage.
OVERALL: Excellent! You were objective and showed both sides of the controversy. The story has statewide appeal. Well written and good writing into your interviews.
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Date posted: November 22, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Gambling in School."
Status: Broadcast
Length: :48
DELIVERY: Nice job. Good flow to the story.
INTERVIEWS: Good interviews. Nice balance by showing both sides of the story. Good job going to the top and getting the principals interview.
ORIGINALITY: Unique story. Topic that is relevant in multiple towns.
WRITING: Well written. You keep the story impartial as a news story should be told. Great balance.
VIDEO: Nice shots inside school and of some card playing. We would have like to have seen a few more card shots.
AUDIO: Good. Consistent levels throughout.
EDITING: Nice job. Good job matching script to video.
OVERALL: Well done! Objective. Great interviews. Well written. It would have been nice to see more footage of card playing.
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Date posted: November 22, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Home Recording."
Status: Re-submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good voice-over delivery.
INTERVIEWS: Good first interview. Suggestion: someone who is using the technology in their home.
ORIGINALITY: Good.
WRITING: Good job covering the facts and telling the story.
VIDEO: Nice job getting plenty of shots to match your story.
AUDIO: Good job getting natural sound edited into your story.
EDITING: Good.
OVERALL: We are unable to air this story due to the two visual references to the for-profit store. Please take out the visual and audio references to "Daddy's Junky Music" and re-submit. There is a fine line between commercial and news spots, please don't use for-profit business signs, names, phone numbers or websites.
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Evaluations for 2003-2004
Date posted: March 26, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Illegal Immigrants
Status: Re-submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY (How is the voice used to tell the story [pitch, tone, diction]): Good job on the voiceover and stand-up.
INTERVIEWS (Sound bites interesting and did they enhance the story?): good choices for interview subjects
ORIGINALITY (Story creative, unique, statewide appeal?): Good. This is a very broad and difficult subject to cover in :50 seconds.
WRITING (Report written clearly, creatively, & grammatically correct?): Be careful not to editorialize in your voice-over and stand-up. The reporter just reports the facts, he can not have an opinion in a news story. I've included a copy of the "How to Manual", please reference page 12 for suggestions on how to write into your sound bites. Remember to cover the facts carefully, WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW.
VIDEO (Pix illustrated the story? Tri-pod used, lighting, composition?): You will need to take out the visual references to the stores in your wide shots. By using store logo's/signs you are inferring these stores hire illegal immigrants. Suggestion: for a wide shot use the outside of the Immigration Offices, then you can cut to your interview with the immigration officer. Also, try to set-up your interview shot from a ¾ angle. We shouldn't see just half of someone's face when they are talking to us.
AUDIO (Clarity, natural sound, enhance the story?): Good
EDITING(Pictures and sound used in the proper sequence to tell a story? Pictures match the script?): See video notes.
OVERALL(All the elements used to tell an interesting story for the viewer?): This is a very difficult story to cover in just :50 seconds. You might want to rethink this as a personal piece from the perspective of one recent immigrant to the US. Maybe one of the students and their experiences in going to school in a new country, getting an after school job, etc. The main reason for the "re-submit" determination is the footage of the commercial stores. By referencing the business you are opening yourself up for liable unless you can back-up your story with hard facts. Please rethink the angle and images and give this another try. It's worth the extra effort.
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Date posted: March 26, 2004
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Atkins Diet"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :56
DELIVERY: Good deliver on your voice-over and stand-up.
INTERVIEWS: Good second interview. We would like to have seen someone who is actually on the diet. See writing for note on 1st interview.
ORIGINALITY:
WRITING: Please don't editorialize in your stand-up. No need to say "hopefully". Stick to the facts: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW. Your currently have two stories going on: 1) the success area restaurants are seeing due to the recent low carb diet fads and 2) the health benefits/disadvantages of low carb diets. In a :50 second story you only have time for 1 story angle. Suggestions: focus on the health benefits/disadvantage of the new diets. It is very difficult to focus on the success of area business without sounding like an infomercial for the business.
VIDEO: Good job getting plenty of close-ups to support your script. Try not to use pan shots.
AUDIO: Good
EDITING: Good
OVERALL This needs to be exactly :50 seconds in length from the moment the voice-over begins to the end of the stand-up, with an additional :5-:10 second pad on both ends. Please re-edit for the :50 second required length. Thanks.
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School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Fish Family Farm Ice Cream
Status: Re-submit
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Fine. Suggestion: try smiling through your voice-over recording. This will add energy to your voice-over.
INTERVIEWS: Good 1st interview. Remember to properly introduce each of your interview subject, especially if they are adding facts/information to your story. What is Don Fish's title? We have to assume he works for the diary – never allow your viewers to assume a fact. Please don't stage an interview or any footage in a news story. It's probably not a good idea to use friends and classmates as interview subjects. The second interview appears staged and therefore will have to be deleted.
ORIGINALITY: Good. Very interesting story.
WRITING: Good job covering many of the facts. How long as the dairy been in existence. You mention many years, what is the exact number of years?
VIDEO: The framing on your first interview was great. On your second: try to have the interviewee look at the side of the camera to get a ¾ face close-up. Currently, you have him looking and talking into dead space. Remember to get plenty of close-up images, currently you have only full and medium shots, with one close-up.
AUDIO: Over all this was good. Remember to lay down nat sound. The beginning images with the cows is a perfect place.
EDITING: Good job matching images with your script.
OVERALL: Overall this is a well done story. We will need you to delete your second interview and re-edit with additional footage or insert a new interview. Thanks.
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Evaluations for 2002-2003
Date:7/2/03
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Defibrillators in Bolton"
Status: Broadcast
Length: :50
DELIVERY: Good pacing. Note: there should only be one stand-up per story.
INTERVIEWS: Good choices.
ORIGINALITY: Good
WRITING: Nice job writing into and out of your sound bites. Suggestion: it is hard to get all the facts into a :50 second story so your script needs to be very tight. A few questions: what is the monetary goal for the fund raising and how close is the town to raising the funds.
VIDEO: Nice job framing your interviews. Keep in mind to get plenty of medium and close-up shots. They will help in the editing process and the pacing of your story.
AUDIO: good
EDITING: see video
OVERALL: Please remember to re-wind and cue up your stories before submitting. In the real world, this is a big thing. Also, it looks like you recording in EP, be careful to record in SP. Thanks.
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Date:7/2/03
School: Bolton High School
Town: Bolton
Slug: "Video Game Technology"
Status: Re-submit
Length: :44
DELIVERY: This was a bit fast – try to slow down in your voice-over.
INTERVIEWS: Good 1st interview subject – please pick just the best of his sound bite. A second interview is needed to back up your premise. Suggestion: someone who works in the technology field of gaming/animation to discuss the cutting edge technology to come. There are several companies who fit the bill located in the area. IE; Funny Bone in Canton for gaming and Reckless Abandon in Windsor/East Granby for animation.
ORIGINALITY: Good
WRITING: Please don't let the interview tell the entire story. Your sound bites should support your script. Also, don't leave your story with an open ended question, "what will come next" is the question your 'expert' interviewee will answer.
VIDEO: see overall
AUDIO:
EDITING: Please don't use supers in a Student News piece. We end up having to cover them with the Fox 61 and WB 20 wrappers.
OVERALL: We have a saying in the media business: "Know your audience", this is especially prevalent in a program which will be aired during children's programming. This means you will have to be careful with the images you decide to use in your news stories. I'm guessing many of the graphics are from rated "T" or "M" games, while the morning and afternoon airings of Student News are "E"!
Copyright © 2008, WTIC
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